See The Sites
Historic Buildings
Adams County Courthouse
111–117 Baltimore Street Gettysburg PA 17325 (717)334-6781 http://www.adamscounty.us/The Adams County Courthouse was occupied by the Confederates prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, and was used as a Union hospital following the battle.
In 1859 the Adams County Courthouse was constructed to replace a smaller building located a block away. During the Gettysburg Campaign, while Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell was ordered to take two of his divisions to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a third division under Maj. Gen. Jubal Early was directed to advance toward York, Pennsylvania, and to break the railroad running between Baltimore and Harrisburg. On June 26, 1863, Early occupied Gettysburg en route to York and took possession of the Adams County Courthouse from which he made requisition for supplies from the citizenry. The courthouse was occupied overnight by Confederate officers. Anxious to capture York, Early departed the following day without most of the supplies he had demanded. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the Adams County Courthouse served as a Union hospital and continued as such until about July 10, 1863. Fannie Buehler, who lived opposite the courthouse, left vivid recollections of the cries of the wounded, and of the cartloads of amputated limbs that were removed from the building.
The Adams County Courthouse remained in use until 1979. A major restoration of the building took place between 1983 and 1985, and today it is still used for ceremonial purposes.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce_imagery/phmc_scans/H001252_01H.pdf
http://www.adamscountylaw.org/courthouse-history.html
Scott L. Mingus, Sr., Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Confederate Expedition to the Susquehanna River, June 1863, 2011.
History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, 1886.
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=19251
Millard Kessler Bushong, A History of Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1719–1940, 1941; reprint, 2007.
John Brown’s Raid, National Park Service History Series, 2009.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0045
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=21767
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1742
Angela Kirkham Davis House
29 West Baltimore Street Funkstown, MD 21734Former home of Angela Kirkham Davis who chronicled her experiences as a Union sympathizer. The house also served as a hospital after the Battles of Antietam and Funkstown.
Angela Kirkham Davis was a Union supporter who cared for wounded soldiers of both sides during the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 and again in 1863 after the Battle of Funkstown. With her husband Joseph Davis, she brought food and water to the battlefield and took a wounded officer into her home to recuperate. Davis recounted her wartime experiences in War Reminiscences: A Letter to my Nieces. This home is a private residence.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-I-554 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Roger Keller, Crossroads of War – Washington County, Maryland in the Civil War (Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press, 1997), 3-33.
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2008
Arcadia
Arcadia was occupied by soldiers from both sides during the war, and served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers after the Battle of Monocacy.
Arcadia, built c.1780, was owned by Robert McGill in 1862. In 1863, just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, Arcadia served as the headquarters of Union General George Meade, then the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac. After the Battle of Monocacy in 1864 wounded Confederate soldiers were taken to the house for treatment. Dr. David McKinney, the surgeon in charge of the Federal hospital across Ballenger Creek, was so impressed by Arcadia that he purchased it from Robert McGill in 1865. Arcadia is now a private residence.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (enter F-1-172 in “Site No.” in “Search by Property” tab)
National Register of Historic Places summary: http://mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?HDID=485&COUNTY=Frederick&FROM=NRCountyList.aspx?COUNTY=Frederick
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station
100 South Market Street Frederick, MD 21701After visiting the Antietam battlefield and a wounded Union general in Frederick, President Abraham Lincoln gave a brief speech here on October 4th, 1862, before boarding a train to Washington.
The Frederick passenger station of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was constructed in 1854, replacing an older station. During the Civil War, the station was a vital transportation hub for troops and supplies. The station witnessed several notable events. In 1859, a militia company from Frederick boarded a train here for Harpers Ferry to join the fight against John Brown and his raiders. Two years later, in September 1861, several pro-secession members of the Maryland Legislature, then meeting in Frederick, were arrested and placed on trains here to be taken to Baltimore. Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s funeral car arrived here on October 15th, 1864. But perhaps the most illustrious event at the train station occurred in 1862. President Abraham Lincoln arrived in Frederick on October 4, 1862, after visiting the Army of the Potomac at Sharpsburg following the Battle of Antietam. Lincoln arrived in an ambulance wagon, and visited Union General George Hartsuff at the Ramsey house on Record Street, where Hartsuff was recovering from a wound received at Antietam. As Lincoln and his party made their way to the train station for the return trip to Washington, “a vast concourse of people” assembled to see the President. Before the train departed, Lincoln appeared on the rear platform of his car and gave a brief speech:
“FELLOW-CITIZENS,—I see myself surrounded by soldiers and by the citizens of this good city of Frederick, all anxious to hear something from me. Nevertheless, I can only say—as I did elsewhere five minutes ago—that it is not proper for me to make speeches in my present position. I return thanks to our gallant soldiers for the good service they have rendered, the energies they have shown, the hardships they have endured, and the blood they have so nobly shed for this dear Union of ours. And I also return thanks, not only, to the soldiers, but to the good citizens of Frederick, and to all the good men, women, and children throughout this land for their devotion to our glorious cause. And I say this without any malice in my heart toward those who have done otherwise. May our children, and our children’s children, for a thousand generations, continue to enjoy the benefits conferred upon us by a united country, and have cause yet to rejoice under those glorious institutions bequeathed us by Washington and his compeers! Now, my friends—soldiers and citizens—I can only say once more—Farewell!”
The station is now home to the Frederick Community Action Agency.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/MD0679/
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0030 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
David S. Lovelace, “John Brown’s Raid, Edward Shriver, and the Frederick Militia,” Catoctin History(Issue# 11, 2009): 34-37.
“Maryland Legislature,” The Valley Register (Middletown, MD), September 20, 1861, 2.
“The President’s Visit to McClellan’s Army,” Harper’s Weekly, October 25, 1862, 684, 686.
“President Lincoln Stopped Off Here On Way Back From Antietam Battlefield,” Frederick News, September 1, 1961, 19.
Barbara Fritchie House
154 West Patrick Street Frederick, MD 21701 Contact: The house is privately owned and occasionally opened for tours. Check with the Tourism Council of Frederick County for current information: 301-600-2888, or 800-999-3613This reconstructed house marks the residence of Barbara Fritchie, the heroine of John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1863 poem.
In 1863, John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about Frederick resident Barbara Fritchie and her courageous act of flying the Union flag from her attic window above of the heads of Confederate soldiers marching out of town during the first invasion of Lee’s troops into Maryland in September 1862. Fritchie was ninety-six years old at the time, and perhaps bedridden. The poem has been controversial ever since, and most people today think the incident never took place (at least not the version described in the poem). Barbara Fritchie’s strong Unionist views were never in doubt, however. She freely expressed her strong and unyielding support for the Union throughout the sectional conflict. It is known that Barbara Fritchie stood outside her home and cheered on McClellan’s forces as they marched through Frederick in September 1862, and an alleged member of Jackson’s Third Brigade relates that the elderly woman once mistakenly waved a Union flag at passing Confederates. True or not, Whittier’s poem became famous, and spawned books, plays, musicals, films, and memorabilia and souvenirs of all types. Fritchie died in December of 1862, and her house was torn down a few years later to widen nearby Carroll Creek. Much of the material from the house was saved, and later used in reconstructing the house in the 1920s. The house is privately owned and occasionally open for tours.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0520 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995), 12
Civil War Trails Historical Marker: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2693
David Wills House
8 Lincoln Square Gettysburg, PA 17325 (866)486-5735 http://www.davidwillshouse.org/On November 18, 1863, the day before he would give the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln spent the night at the home of Gettysburg attorney David Wills.
The three-story David Wills House was built in 1816. In 1859 David Wills bought the property for use as his law office. On behalf of the state of Pennsylvania and other northern states, after the Battle of Gettysburg Wills purchased the lots that would become Soldiers’ National Cemetery. He also arranged for the exhumation and reburial of the dead, and made plans to have the ground consecrated. Wills engaged prominent orator Edward Everett to be the featured speaker at the cemetery dedication, and later invited President Abraham Lincoln to give “a few appropriate remarks.” OnNovember 18, 1863Lincolnspent the night at Wills’ house along with Everett and Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin. That eveningLincolnfine-tuned and completed his speech in his second floor room at Wills’ house. The following dayLincolndelivered his speech, which would become immortalized as “The Gettysburg Address.”
After Wills’ death in 1894, the property was bought and used as a number of different commercial establishments. From 1945 to 2004, under various owners, “The Lincoln Room Museum” was operated on the second floor of the building. In 2004 the National Park Service acquired the building from the Borough of Gettysburg. On February 12, 2009the David Wills House was reopened to commemorate Lincoln’s 200th birthday.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.davidwillshouse.org/
http://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/david-wills-house.htm
http://www.hallowedground.org/Explore-the-Journey/Historical-Site/David-Wills-House
David Herbert Donald, Lincoln, 1995.
Bradley R. Hoch, The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania: A History and Guide, 2001.
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=32491&Result=1
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=32492
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=32477
Dunker Church
5831 Dunker Church Road Sharpsburg, MD 21782This small church was the central point of a number of Union attacks on the Confederate left flank during the Battle of Antietam.
The Dunker church was originally built in 1852, on land donated by local farmer Samuel Mumma. It was the site of General Stonewall Jackson’s stand against the Union I and XII Corps, and the focal point of several Union attacks against the Confederate left flank. Though it was nearly destroyed during the intense fighting that surrounded it on the morning of September 17th, it was used as a temporary medical aid station after the battle, and was the site of a truce called on September 18th in order to exchange wounded soldiers and bury the dead. It may have been used as an embalming station by the Union Army. Tradition also holds that it was visited by President Lincoln on his tour of the battlefield in October 1862. It was rebuilt after the devastation of the war only to be destroyed by a windstorm in 1921; many of the pews and bricks were saved, and it was reconstructed in 1961 according to the original plans and using some original materials. One of its attractions is its Mumma Bible, the pulpit bible that was carried off during the war by a member of the 107th New York Regiment and returned years later.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/dunkerchurch.htm
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0588
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0352 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Washington County, Maryland – A Guide to 66 points of Interest(Shepherdstown, WV: Charles S. Adams, 1996), 3
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20593
Entler Hotel (Historic Shepherdstown Museum)
129 E. German Street Shepherdstown, WV 25443 Contact: 304-876-0910 http://historicshepherdstown.comThe hotel served as a hospital complex after the Battle of Antietam.
The Entler Hotel began as a set of six adjacent properties, the earliest of which was built in 1786. After the Battle of Antietam in 1862, it was turned into a large hospital; some of the most severely wounded soldiers were brought here and tended by a local doctor, Richard Parran. After the war, it resumed its status as a hotel: in the latter part of the century, it was not uncommon for a veteran of the Civil War to return to spend a night in the room in which he had recuperated. In 1912 the structure became Rumsey Hall, the first men’s dormitory of Shepherd College. After serving as faculty apartments and storage space, it lay abandoned for almost a decade and was threatened with destruction. Today, however, it is the headquarters of the nonprofit organization Historic Shepherdstown, and is operated as the Historic Shepherdstown Museum.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.historicshepherdstown.com/
National Register of Historic Places nomination: http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/73001919.pdf
Margaret S. Creighton, The Colors of Courage – Gettysburg’s Forgotten History (NY: Basic Books, 2005), 121-122.
Evangelical Reformed Church
15 West Church Street Frederick, MD 21701 Contact: 301-662-2762Confederate General Stonewall Jackson attended services here on September 7, 1862, during the Confederates’ first foray into Maryland that would end at the Battle of Antietam.
In the Antietam Campaign, the Confederate Army first entered Maryland on September 4, 1862. The CSA soldiers stayed in the Frederick vicinity for several days, until September 12. General Stonewall Jackson, deeply religious, planned to attend Sunday evening church services on September 7 at Frederick’s Presbyterian Church, where the minister, Rev. Dr. John Ross, was a personal friend. But services were not held that evening at the Presbyterian Church, so Jackson and a few fellow officers attended the services of the Evangelical Reformed Church just down the street. The pastor of the Evangelical Reformed Church, Dr. Daniel Zacharias, was a strong Unionist but also had two sons fighting on the Confederate side. Dr. Zacharias was later praised for his courage in offering a prayer for President Abraham Lincoln while Confederate officers were in the congregation, but according to one of Jackson’s aides, the General, as was his custom, promptly fell asleep when the sermon started and never heard the prayer. Henry Kyd Douglas, the aide, later wrote that if Jackson had been awake to hear the prayer, “I’ve no doubt he would have joined in it heartily.” It is unclear whether General Jackson was awake when the hymn, “The Stoutest Rebel must Resign,” was sung.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0664 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Kathleen A. Ernst, Too Afraid to Cry – Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1999), 48-49.
John H. Landis, “A Lancaster Girl in History,” in Papers Read Before the Lancaster Historical Society Vol. 23, No. 5 (Lancaster, PA: The New Era Printing Co., 1919), 87.
Ferry Hill Inn
16500 Shepherdstown Pike Sharpsburg MD 21782 (301)582-0813 http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/ferry-hill-place.htmFerry Hill was the boyhood home of Confederate officer Henry Kyd Douglas, and the property was occupied by both armies at different times during the Civil War.
In 1765 Thomas Van Swearingen bought property on both sides of the Potomac between Shepherdstown, VA, and Sharpsburg, MD, and began operating a ferry. Through marriage, in 1816 John Blackford acquired the property and the rights to operate the ferry. Between 1812 and 1820, the mansion house was built atop the heights that overlooked the river on the Maryland side, which was called Ferry Hill. The house operated as an inn and tavern, and the land was worked by slaves. With the arrival of the nearby Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in the 1830s, the plantation flourished and the small community of Bridgeport developed as a result of the commercial activity in the area.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Henry Kyd Douglas, a young lawyer not long out of college, lived at Ferry Hill with his parents, Rev. Robert and Helene Douglas. Young Douglas had enlisted in a Confederate regiment and was among those troops that burned the toll bridge across the river opposite his family’s house in June 1861. On September 19–20, 1862, during the Battle of Shepherdstown, Union artillery occupied positions on the high ground around the Douglas property and shelled Confederates who were retreating from the battlefield at Antietam. The house was occupied by Union officers and Douglas’ parents were held captive. During the Gettysburg Campaign, the nearby ford was among those used by the Confederates during the invasion of Maryland, and Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson occupied Ferry Hill en route to Pennsylvania.
The Douglas family owned Ferry Hill until 1903. In 1941 the house was converted into a restaurant. The National Park Service bought the property in 1973. From 1979 until 2001 it served as headquarters for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. In 2012 Ferry Hill reopened as a National Park Service visitors center with exhibits focusing on the historic property, Henry Kyd Douglas, the Civil War, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
See these sources and websites for additional information
http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/ferry-hill-place.htm
http://www.nps.gov/choh/historyculture/ferryhillplantation.htm
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/blackford/blackford.htm
http://www.canaltrust.org/discoveries/pdf/FerryHill_Site_Bulletin.pdf
Henry Kyd Douglas, I Rode with Stonewall: Being Chiefly the War Experiences of the Youngest Member of Jackson’s Staff from the John Brown Raid to the hing of Mrs. Surratt, 1940; reprint, n.d.
Thomas A. McGrath, Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign, September 19–20, 1862, 2007.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0035 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=58252
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1971
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1877
Gettysburg Railroad Station
35 Carlisle StreetGettysburg,PA 17325 (800)337-5015 http://www.gettysburg.travel/visitor/member_detail.asp?contact_id=34438
The Gettysburg Railroad Station served as a field hospital following the Battle of Gettysburg, and President Lincoln later passed through it to give the Gettysburg Address.
Construction of the Gettysburg Railroad began in 1856 and was completed in 1858. The line extended for sixteen miles, running between Hanover Junction andGettysburg,Pennsylvania. Construction of the train station was completed in 1859. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the train station was utilized as a field hospital. After the battle, the Union army commandeered the railroad for about six weeks to remove the wounded and forward supplies. About 15,000 wounded soldiers were evacuated from the battlefield over the Gettysburg Railroad. In the days leading up to the dedication of Soldiers’NationalCemetery, about 15,000 dignitaries and guests arrived in town, most of whom traveled over the Gettysburg Railroad and passed through the train station, including President Lincoln on November 18. The next day at the dedication,Lincolndelivered “a few appropriate remarks,” which have become immortalized as the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln departed that evening, again using the Gettysburg Railroad on his party’s return to Washington.
After various changes of ownership due to the sale and mergers of railroads over the decades since the Civil War, in 1998 title to the Gettysburg Railroad station was transferred to the Borough of Gettysburg, which undertook efforts to restore and preserve the building. After $1 million was raised, the building was restored and is now serving as a visitor information center for the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.gettysburg.travel/visitor/member_detail.asp?contact_id=34438
http://www.hallowedground.org/Explore-the-Journey/Historical-Site/Historic-Gettysburg-Train-Station
http://www.gettysburg.travel/media/news_detail.asp?news_id=408
Gerald Bennett, The Gettysburg Railroad Station, 1999; revised 2008
Grove-DeLauney House
100W. Main Street(MD 34) Sharpsburg, MD 21782Following the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General Robert E. Lee met with subordinate generals at the Grove-DeLauney House inSharpsburg,Maryland.
The Grove-DeLauney House was built from 1820 to 1830 inSharpsburg,Maryland. At the time of the Civil War it was owned by Jacob Grove. During the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, several shells and bullets hit the house. On the night following the battle, Confederate General Robert E. Lee met with his subordinate generals, including General James Longstreet, at the Grove-DeLauney House.
The Grove family lost possession of the property in 1870, but were able to regain it in 1873. In 1893 it was sold to the DeLauney family who retained it until at least 1965, operating it as a hotel for part of that period.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Kathleen A. Ernst, Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign, 1999; paperback edition, 2007.
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0541 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=7574
Hessian Barracks
242 South Market Street Frederick, MD 21701This former barracks and prison served throughout the war as a hospital for the North and the South.
The Hessian Barracks are generally assumed to have been built in 1777, though several local historians contend that they were built earlier, during the French & Indian War. They served as a prison during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, as well as holding French prisoners captured from ships during America’s undeclared war with France at the end of the 18th century. Just prior to the Civil War, the barracks were used as a meeting place for Frederick’s Home Guard. Soon after the war began, the remaining two buildings and the grounds were designated as a Union Military Hospital. As casualties mounted from nearby battles, new buildings were added and the hospital became one of the largest military hospitals in the country. The hospital remained in operation until the end of the war. The hospital was of great importance especially during the Battles of South Mountain and Antietam, caring for wounded soldiers from both the Union and the Confederacy.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
National Register of Historic Places summary: http://mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?HDID=46&COUNTY=Frederick&FROM=NRCountyList.aspx?COUNTY=Frederick
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0336
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0243 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995), 14
Civil War Trails Historical Marker: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2806
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2739
Hitt Bridge (Upper Bridge)
Keedysville Road over Antietam Creek Keedysville, MD 21756Hitt Bridge is one of three stone arch bridges significant in the Battle of Antietam.
The Hitt Bridge (sometimes called the Upper Bridge) was named for local landholder Samuel Hitt, and was completed in 1830 by Silas Harry. Its distinguishing feature is its unusually high center arch. The bridge was the main artery for Union troops on their way to engage the Confederates at Sharpsburg, and was briefly the campsite of General Joseph Mansfield’s Union XII Corps.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1128
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0122 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3201
IOOF Hall
27 S. Main Street Boonsboro MD 21713The Boonsboro Odd Fellows Hall was used as a hospital following the battles of South Mountain and Antietam in 1862, and after the Battle of Funkstown in 1863.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a nineteenth century men’s fraternal organization, built its hall in Boonsboro in 1852. During the September 14, 1862 Battle of South Mountain and the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, the building was used as a hospital. Following the July 10, 1863 Battle of Funkstown, which took place during the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg, the building was again pressed into service as a hospital. After the latter battle, thirty wounded men from the Eighth Illinois Cavalry were placed in the Odd Fellows Hall.
After the Civil War, the Odd Fellows Hall returned to his former use. By the early twentieth century, the Odd Fellows used the second floor of the building, while various businesses used the first floor and basement. During the first quarter of the century, the building was used as an opera house. In 1992 the building was renovated, and it is still in use as a retail shop.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
S. Roger Keller, Events of the Civil War in Washington County, Maryland, 1995.
Abner Hard, History of the Eighth Cavalry Regiment Illinois Volunteers, during the Great Rebellion, 1868.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0763 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1872
Jefferson County Courthouse
100 E. Washington Street Charles Town WV 25414 (304)728-3215 http://jeffersoncountyclerkwv.com/index.htmlThe Jefferson County Courthouse hosted the trial of John Brown following his failed raid on the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry, and it was damaged during the Civil War.
The first Jefferson County courthouse was built in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1803. It was a two-story structure that included a tower. In 1836 the building was torn down to make way for a bigger courthouse. The new building consisted of a first floor that served as one large courtroom and it featured a belltower. This building still stands today.
In 1859 the Jefferson County Courthouse hosted the trial of John Brown and his conspirators, which followed their failed October 16–18, 1859 raid on the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s trial took place October 26–31, 1859 and resulted in his conviction for treason against Virginia, inciting a slave insurrection, and murder. Six other conspirators were subsequently tried and convicted at the same courthouse. All were hanged.
During the Civil War, Charles Town changed hands a number of times. On October 18, 1863, Confederate troops under John Imboden surrounded the courthouse, which was occupied by Union troops. The building was damaged in the short fight that followed. During the war the courthouse was also used as a stable and its metal roof was removed and used to make ammunition. By the end of the war, the county seat had been moved to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where a new building served as county courthouse.
In 1872 the county seat was returned to Charles Town, and the courthouse was repaired and improved. The renovations included a new second floor courtroom and an enlarged belltower that housed a clock. From 1873 to 1912 the courthouse was home to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Today the Jefferson County Courthouse still serves as a working courthouse.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://jeffersoncountyclerkwv.com/index.html
http://abc.eznettools.net/D300003/X380798/court_house.html
Millard Kessler Bushong, A History of Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1719–1940, 1941; reprint, 2007.
John Brown’s Raid, National Park Service History Series, 2009.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0045
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=21767
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1742
Jennie Wade House
548 Baltimore Street Gettysburg, PA 17325 Tour information: (717) 334-4100 http://www.jennie-wade-house.comJennie (or Ginnie) Wade was shot and killed in this house during the Battle of Gettysburg. She was the only civilian casualty of the battle.
Jennie (Ginnie) Wade, a native of Gettysburg, was twenty years old when the Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, 1863. [Her full name was Mary Virginia Wade, and she was nicknamed "Ginnie." Newspaper reports after the battle mistakenly referred to her as "Jennie."] On the first day of the battle, Ginnie, her mother, and two younger brothers left their house on Breckenridge Street to assist Ginnie’s sister, Georgia Wade McClellan, and her new baby, in the McClellan home on Baltimore Street. On the morning of July 3, while Ginnie was kneading dough for bread, a bullet fired by an unknown soldier tore through the kitchen door and struck Ginnie. She died instantly. Amazingly, Ginnie was the only civilian casualty during the three-day battle. The McClellan house, now called the Jennie Wade House, is a museum and tourist attraction.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.jennie-wade-house.com/
http://www.army.mil/gettysburg/profiles/wade.html
Margaret S. Creighton, The Colors of Courage – Gettysburg’s Forgotten History (NY: Basic Books, 2005), 121-122.
John Brown’s Fort
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Harpers Ferry, WV 25425 http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/john-brown-fort.htmThe U.S. Armory’s fire engine and guard house was used by John Brown and his conspirators as a final refuge in their October 16–18, 1859 ill-fated raid on the facility.
The U.S. Armory’s fire engine and guard house was built at Harpers Ferry in 1848. During John Brown’s October 16–18, 1859 raid against the facility, which was intended in incite a slave insurrection, Brown and his followers took refuge in the brick structure to escape the gunfire of local citizens and militias. On the last day of the standoff, U.S. Marines under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee stormed the building, killing two of Brown’s party and badly wounding the mastermind. All of the raiders, including Brown and those captured later, were subsequently tried, convicted, and hanged.
During the Civil War, John Brown’s Fort, as it became known, was the only armory building that was not destroyed. It was used as a guardhouse and prison by both sides. Due to it notoriety, soldiers stationed at Harpers Ferry scavenged pieces of the building as souvenirs. In 1891 the fort was sold, dismantled and shipped to Chicago for display at the Columbian Exposition. Attracting scant visitors, the exhibit was closed and the building was dismantled again. In 1894 the fort was returned to Harpers Ferry and was rebuilt on a privately owned farm three miles from town. In 1909, on the fiftieth anniversary of the raid, Storer College bought John Brown’s Fort and moved it to Camp Hill on their campus at Harpers Ferry. In 1960 the National Park Service acquired the building, and in 1968 moved it back to the lower town, one hundred and fifty feet east of its original location, where it remains today.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/john-brown-fort.htm
http://home.nps.gov/hafe/photosmultimedia/John-Brown-Fort.htm
http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh19-1.html
John Brown’s Raid, National Park Service History Series, 2009.
Tony Horwitz, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War, 2012.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/wv0084/
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2940
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4420
Kemp Hall
2-4 East Church Street Frederick, MD 21701 301-662-2762 [Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ, owner]The pro-secessionist Maryland General Assembly met in Kemp Hall between April and September 1861.
In late April 1861, Maryland Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks called a special session of the Maryland General Assembly to discuss the state’s position in the impending war. Annapolis was under federal occupation, so Hicks moved the session to Frederick. Hicks and the majority of the citizens of Frederick were pro-Union, but a majority of the legislators were pro-Southern. The General Assembly convened on April 26 in the Frederick County Courthouse, but finding the courthouse too small, the legislature met on the second day in Kemp Hall, a building owned by the German Reformed Church. The Senate met on the third floor and the House met on the second. During the April session, the assembly passed resolutions encouraging peaceful solutions to the problem of secession, and adjourned on May 14th. Several other meetings were held over the summer. Governor Hicks and President Abraham Lincoln were determined that Maryland remain in the Union. Several pro-secession delegates had already been arrested elsewhere in the state. As the Assembly prepared to reconvene in September 1861, and possibly vote on secession, the Secretary of War ordered the imprisonment of the remaining secessionist legislators. The Frederick meeting of the General Assembly came to an end on September 17, when the session was adjourned for lack of a quorum.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0607 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
“The General Assembly Moves to Frederick, 1861,” on the Maryland State Archives website athttp://www.msa.md.gov/msa/stagser/s1259/121/7590/html/0000.html
“Arrest of the Maryland Legislature, 1861,” part of Teaching American History in Maryland, athttp://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000017/html/t17.html
“Maryland Legislature,” The Valley Register (Middletown, MD), September 20, 1861, 2.
Carl N. Everstine, The General Assembly of Maryland, 1850-1920 (Charlottesville, VA: The Michie Co., 1984), 91-141.
Paul and Rita Gordon, Frederick County, Maryland: A Playground of the Civil War (The Heritage Partnership, Frederick, MD: M&B Printing Inc., 1994), 25-34.
Kennedy Farmhouse
2406 Chestnut Grove Road Sharpsburg, MD 21782 (202) 537-8900 http://www.johnbrown.org/toc.htmThe Kennedy Farmhouse was used by John Brown and his followers as a staging area for hisOctober 17, 1859raid on the nearby U.S. Arsenal atHarpers Ferry,Virginia.
In July 1859, John Brown, using the pseudonym Isaac Smith, rented the Kennedy farmhouse from the heirs of Dr. Robert Kennedy. Located in southernWashington County,Maryland, Brown used the farmhouse to store arms and supplies, to shelter his followers and to plan his raid on the U.S. Arsenal atHarpers Ferry, which was only about five miles away. In addition to Brown, at one time twenty-two people occupied the house, including a daughter, a daughter-in-law, two sons, and eighteen other men, five of whom were African Americans. The raid was launched late onOctober 16, 1859and was put down two days later when U.S. Marines stormed the firehouse into which Brown and his raiding party had taken refuge with their hostages. After the raid, a search of the Kennedy Farmhouse uncovered additional arms, maps and letters that revealed the extent of Brown’s plans and the identity of some of his supporters in the North.
After passing through the hands of many owners, in 1950 the National Negro Elks purchased the Kennedy Farmhouse, hoping to restore it and open a museum in the house. Unable to raise the necessary funds, the property was sold in 1966. In 1972 South T. Lynn leased the property for a year, and then he and three others bought it. Over the years that followed, Lynn and the late Harold Keshishian bought out the interest of the other two owners. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974, which provided opportunity to acquire funding to restore the building. Utilizing funds from a number of sources, the farmhouse was fully restored under the direction of the Maryland Historical Trust.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.johnbrown.org/toc.htm
John Brown’s Raid, National Park Service History Series, 2009.
Tony Horwitz, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War, 2012.
National Historical Landmarks summary:
http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1339&ResourceType=Building
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0587
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-III-030 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20735&Result=1
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=1988
Kretzer Homestead
128 E. Main Street (MD 34 Sharpsburg MD 21782During the Battle of Antietam the cellar of the Kretzer Homestead house served as a place of refuge for local residents who remained in Sharpsburg.
In 1842 John Kretzer purchased the stone house and surrounding property that was located on Main Street in Sharpsburg. The house dates to the late-eighteenth century.
During the Battle of Antietam, many Sharpsburg residents who did not leave town prior to the conflict sought shelter in the basement of the Kretzer house. The basement was fed by a spring, was subdivided into three rooms and its thick stone walls offered protection from shelling. A woodcut engraving, which originally appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, depicts an exploding shell shattering a basement window while terrified citizens cower below. Later on the day of the battle, six Confederates soldiers entered the house and joined the citizens in the basement, explaining that they were tired of fighting.
John Kretzer died in 1901, and in 1939 his executor sold the house. Currently the house is a private residence that is again owned by a descendant of the Kretzer family.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://sharpsburgmd.com/history/
Kathleen A. Ernst, Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign, 1999; paperback edition, 2007.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0550 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Lockwood House
Fillmore Street Harpers Ferry WV 25425 http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=101During the Civil War the Lockwood House served as headquarters for Union generals, and after the war it was the site of a school for African Americans and became part of Storer College.
Located on Camp Hill in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the Lockwood House was built in 1847 as the residence for the U.S. Armory paymaster. During the Civil War, Union generals Henry H. Lockwood and Philip H. Sheridan used the building as headquarters. In November 1863 Union forces held a Thanksgiving ball in the house, and at other times the building was used as a hospital and a prison
After the war, in 1865 Rev. Nathan Cook Brackett, of the Freewill Baptist Home Mission Society in New England, established a Freewill Baptist primary school for African Americans, many freed slaves, in the building. The school taught reading, writing, and arithmetic to its students, using missionary teachers. By 1867 sixteen teachers were responsible for teaching over two thousand students. To increase the number of teachers, Brackett determined that he needed to train African Americans to become teachers.
Inspired by Brackett’s efforts, Maine philanthropist John Storer offered the Freewill Baptists $10,000 for a school if it would admit students without regard to race, sex or religion; if it would eventually became a degree-granting institution; and if it would match the grant within a year. After the money was raised, on October 2, 1867, Storer Normal School opened its doors. In December 1869 the U.S. government formerly conveyed the Lockwood House and three other buildings on Camp Hill to the school. The school became Storer College and served thousands of African American students until it closed in 1955. In 1960 the Lockwood House, along with the rest of the Storer College campus, was incorporated in the Harpers Ferry National Historical Monument. The house has been restored to its Civil War-era appearance, with two rooms furnished from the early period when the building was used as a school.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=101
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/storer-college.htm
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/upload/Storer%20College.pdf
Dawne Raines Burke, An American Phoenix: A History of Storer College from Slavery to Desegregation, 1865–1955, 2006.
National Register of Historic Places summary:
http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/01000781.pdf
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/wv0161/
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=10180
Landon House
Landon House was occupied by Northern and Southern troops during the war, and was the site of a ball hosted by J.E.B. Stuart in September 1862.
Landon House was reportedly constructed in 1754 as a silk mill – in Fredericksburg, Virginia, along the banks of the Rappahannock River. It was moved to its present location in 1846 by Reverend R.H. Phillips, who then turned it into the Shirley Female Seminary by 1850. During the mid-1850s it became the Landon Military Institute, but by the end of the 1850s was once more a girls’ school, the Landon Female Academy. After the Confederate Army invaded Maryland in September 1862, General Longstreet’s soldiers stayed in the house and on the grounds. Many of them inscribed their names and units, as well as derisive comments about the North, on the walls of the house. On September 8th, 1862, Landon House was the site of General J.E.B. Stuart’s “Sabers and Roses” ball. The dance was the idea of several young ladies from the area, and the amiable Stuart agreed that it would give his men a respite from the stresses of military life. Unfortunately, the festivities were marred by a nearby skirmish between a Federal patrol and a Southern outpost. Though the fight was quickly over, the ball ended as the casualties were brought back to Landon, to be nursed by the female attendees.
A little over a week later, on September 16th, Union troops used the recently vacated building as a resting place on their pursuit of the Confederates. Seeing the Southern soldiers’ graffiti, the Union soldiers added their own names, cartoons, and commentaries on the South. (The graffiti is still present on the walls of the house.) After the war, Landon was bought by Colonel Luke Tiernan Brien, a chief of staff to J.E.B. Stuart during the war. It is now privately owned, and occasionally used for special events.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
https://sites.google.com/site/landonhousecom/history
http://www.freewebs.com/landonhouse/index.htm
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (enter F-7-003 in “Site No.” in “Search by Property” tab)
National Register of Historic Places summary: http://mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?HDID=283&FROM=NRMapFR.html
Civil War Trails Marker: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1739
Masonic Temple
74 S. 2nd Street Chambersburg, PA 17201 http://www.pagrandlodge.org/district3/143/During the July 30, 1864 burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a Confederate officer reportedly posted guards to prevent the burning of the Masonic temple.
The George Washington Masonic Lodge No. 143 was formed in 1815. In 1823 the lodge entered into a contract with a fellow Mason to construct a Masonic Temple, which was built in the years that followed. Due to financial problems, the lodge’s charter was returned to the Grand Lodge in 1831, and the temple was used as a church printing house. In 1860 the temple was reacquired by George Washington Lodge No. 143.
On July 30, 1864 Confederate Brig. Gen. John McCausland crossed the Potomac River at McCoys Ford and proceeded to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, which was only lightly defended. McCausland entered the town and demanded $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in currency in retaliation for Union Maj. Gen. David Hunter’s burning of private property in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Money from the banks had already been taken away, however, and McCausland promptly ordered his men to apply the torch to the town. While soldiers were busy entering homes, breaking up furniture and settings fires throughout the town, an unidentified Confederate officer reportedly noticed the Masonic Lodge and posted guards around it and other nearby buildings to prevent its destruction, presumably because he too was a Mason.
The Masonic Temple was remodeled and enlarged in 1899 and in the 1960s, and it is still used by George Washington Lodge No. 143.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.pagrandlodge.org/district3/143/
http://www.gw143.org/?page_id=30
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-202
Tom Huntington, Pennsylvania Civil War Trails: The Guide to Battle sites, Monuments, Museums and Towns, 2007.
Fritz Hasselberger, Confederate Retaliation: McCausland’s 1864 Raid, 2000.
Mumma Farmstead
Smoketown Road Sharpsburg MD 21782 http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=64During the Battle of Antietam the Mumma Farmstead was the only civilian property that was intentionally damaged
On September 15, 1862, as the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia moved into the Sharpsburg area, Samuel and Elizabeth Mumma took their thirteen children and evacuated their home. They spent several days in a church a few miles north of the battlefield.
About two hours into the Battle of Antietam, Confederate soldiers received orders to burn the buildings on the Mumma property to prevent their use by Union sharpshooters. The house, barn and most outbuildings were subsequently burned. This was the only intentional destruction of civilian property during the battle. A stone springhouse was the only original structure to survive the battle, although the wooden upper story was destroyed.
With the loss of their home, the Mummas spent the winter at the Sherrick farm located near Burnside Bridge. In 1863 they rebuilt their home. After the war the U.S. government compensated local residents for damages committed by Union soldiers, but the Mummas received no compensation since their property had been destroyed by the Confederates. In 1906 a former member of the Third North Carolina Infantry wrote to the postmaster of Sharpsburg, seeking information about how to contact the family whose house members of his regiment had burned. The postmaster was Samuel Mumma, Jr., who replied that although his family had lost everything in the battle, they understood that the soldiers were only obeying orders when they burned the house.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/resources/place.htm?id=64
http://www.nps.gov/anti/forteachers/upload/Mumma%20and%20Roulette%20Farms%20Trail%20Guide.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/anti/forteachers/upload/Contradictions-and-Divided-Loyalties.pdf
James V. Murfin, The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign, September 1862, 1965; reprint, 1982.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/md1112/
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1654
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0350 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6981
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=20715
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6184
National Museum of Civil War Medicine
48 East Patrick St. Frederick, MD 21701 Contact: 301-695-1864 http://www.civilwarmed.orgThe museum tells the story of medical care for soldiers during the Civil War.
The National Museum of Civil War Medicine tells the fascinating story of the evolving medical treatment of soldiers during the Civil War. The sheer number of casualties overwhelmed available resources, leading by necessity to advancements in battlefield triage, ambulance service, operations, the quality of nursing care, and in other areas of medical care. The building in which the National Museum of Civil War Medicine resides was once the furniture shop of James Whitehill as well as his undertaking business during the war.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
National Museum of Civil War Medicine website: http://www.civilwarmed.org
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995), 13
Old South Mountain Inn
6132 Old National Pike (Alt. US 40) Boonsboro, MD 21713 (301)432-6155 http://www.oldsouthmountaininn.com/Sitting atop the summit of South Mountain at Turner’s Gap, Confederate Brig. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill made his headquarters in the inn during the Battle of South Mountain.
Situated at a prominent mountain pass, or “gap,” the inn was an important stop for travelers. It is possible that the first inn was in operation at this location in the mid- to late Eighteenth Century as land records indicate that an innkeeper acquired the property in 1769. Although it is likely that the present Old South Mountain Inn was built after 1800, it is possible that an earlier building existed that was later incorporated into the present structure. Among the prominent people who stayed at the inn in the early Nineteenth Century were Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and Abraham Lincoln. One local resident reported meeting Captain John Cook, one of John Brown’s conspirators, at the inn.
During the Civil War Confederate Brig. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill made his headquarters in the inn during the Battle of South Mountain, from which point he directed the defense of both Turner’s and Fox’s gaps. In order to capture a Union garrison of 12,000 men at Harpers Ferry, in his Special Orders No. 191, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had divided his army into a number of different pieces, which made it vulnerable. Hill’s task, although greatly outnumbered, was to hold the passes until Harpers Ferry surrendered and the Confederate army could be reunited. Although the Confederates vigorously resisted the assaults at the gaps, Union troops gained possession of both on September 14, 1862.
In 1876 the inn was bought by Madeleine V. Dahlgren, widow of Admiral John A. Dahlgren who served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War and who invented the Dahlgren gun. She used the property as a private residence and constructed a stone chapel across the street. In 1925 the property was again used as a tavern. From 1971 to the present, under a number of different owners, the property has served as a restaurant.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.oldsouthmountaininn.com/
http://cmhl.org/Turner_s_Gap_934F.html
Ezra Carmen, The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, I: South Mountain, Thomas G. Clemens, ed., 2010.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0001 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1600
Otto Farm
Burnside Bridge Road Sharpsburg, MD 21782During the Battle of Antietam, the Otto farm was occupied by both armies at different times, and after the battle it was used as a Union hospital.
On September 16, 1862 Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert Toombs’ division, which consisted of less than 500 Georgian riflemen, camped on the Otto property near the Lower or Rohrbach Bridge. The next day at the Battle of Antietam, after a three hour assault, Union Maj. Gen Ambrose Burnside succeeded in carrying the bridge that now bears his name. When Burnside advanced against the Confederate right flank, he was met by Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill’s Light Division, which had just arrived from Harpers Ferry. Hill checked Burnside’s advance. Union Brig Gen. Isaac Rodman’s division retreated to the Otto property after the repulse. Following the battle, the house and barn were used as Union hospitals.
The Otto Farm is also significant because of Hilleary Watson, a slave on the farm until 1864. Many years after the Battle of Antietam, Watson recounted to a writer the events leading up to the battle, including his encounter with a Confederate soldier trying to loot the house. Later, Watson was drafted to serve in the Union Army, but his owner, John Otto, paid a fee to keep Watson out of the service. Watson also became one of the trustees of the local African American church built after the war, Tolson’s Chapel.
The Otto farm remained in the family until the twentieth century. It was eventually acquired by the National Park Service and is now a part of Antietam National Battlefield.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/anti/forteachers/upload/Contradictions-and-Divided-Loyalties.pdf
http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=&PARK=&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=466
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1094
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/md1269/
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6444
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6445
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6408
Philip Pry House (Pry Farm)
18906 Shepherdstown Pike (MD 34) Keedysville, MD 21756This farm was used by General George McClellan as headquarters during the Battle of Antietam; it was also a hospital and signal station.
The Philip Pry House dates back to July 1844. Standing on a hill, it commands a good view of the Antietam battlefield, leading Union General George McClellan to make his headquarters there during the Battle of Antietam. The location also served as the medical headquarters of Dr. Jonathan Letterman, who put into place influential plans reorganizing the army medical system while here; both the barn and the house were called into service as hospitals. General Israel B. Richardson, “the Union hero of Bloody Lane,” died here on November 3rd, after being visited by President Abraham Lincoln in October. Today, the Pry House is part of Antietam National Battlefield and serves as a field hospital museum for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.civilwarmed.org/VisitUs/PryHouse.aspx
http://www.nps.gov/anti/planyourvisit/pryhouse.htm
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1084; http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1083;
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1082
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0355 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Washington County, Maryland – A Guide to 66 points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: Charles S. Adams, 1996), 12.
Piper House
E. Main Street (MD 34) Sharpsburg, MD 21782
During the Battle of Antietam, the Piper House served as headquarters for two Confederate generals and was damaged during the fight at nearby Bloody Lane.
The Piper House is located at the southeast corner of Main and Church Streets in Sharpsburg, Maryland. The original portion of the house was built prior to 1820. At the time of the Civil War, the property was owned by Henry Piper who farmed the land with the help of his slaves.
During the Battle of Antietam, the Piper house served as headquarters for Confederate Generals James Longstreet and Daniel H. Hill. At the urging of the generals, the Piper family left the house before the battle, staying with Henry’s brother who lived near the Potomac River. The Piper House was located at the center of the Confederate line near the Sunken Road. After the southerners were driven from the farm lane, which afterward was known as Bloody Lane, they streamed through the Piper property. The house’s masonry was damaged by shelling and its wooden doors peppered with bullets. After the battle, the Piper House and barn were used as field hospitals and the property was occupied by Union troops for several weeks. During this time much of Piper’s remaining livestock, forage and foodstuffs were confiscated by the Union army. The Piper farm was so devastated during the battle that afterwards the Piper family moved into a second house in Sharpsburg.
Upon Piper’s death in 1891, the house passed into hands of his descendants where it remained until the mid-twentieth century.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Prospect Hall
889 Butterfly Lane Frederick, MD 21703 (301) 662-4210Prospect Hall was the site of the transfer of command of the Army of the Potomac from Union General Joseph Hooker to General George Meade before the Battle of Gettysburg.
Prospect Hall was built during the early 19th century, possibly as early as the late 18th century, with several later additions and alterations to its structure. During the Civil War, it was the home of Colonel William P. Maulsby, the commanding officer of the First Regiment of the Potomac Home Brigade. Stephen Douglass, the Democratic candidate for the 1860 presidential election, is known to have visited here. In 1862, Confederate troops camped at the Hall prior to the Battle of South Mountain. On June 28, 1863, just days before the Battle of Gettysburg, Union General George G. Meade assumed control of the Army of the Potomac on the grounds of Prospect Hall, relieving General Joseph Hooker.
During the winter of 1861-62, Colonel and Mrs. Maulsby hosted a ball at Prospect Hall. One of the guests, Septima Collis, the wife of a Union general, described the event:
The pièce de résistance of the season, in the way of amusement, was a ball given by Colonel and Mrs. Maltby [Maulsby], who lived in the suburbs of the town. The Colonel, if I remember rightly, then commanded a Maryland regiment or brigade. Their very large and well appointed residence was admirably adapted to gratify the desire of our hostess to make the occasion a memorable one; the immense hall served as the ballroom; the staircases afforded ample sitting room for those who did not participate in, or desired to rest from, the merry whirl, while the ante-rooms presented the most bountiful opportunities of quenching thirst or appeasing appetite. I shall never forget one little French lieutenant who divided his time with precise irregularity between the dance and the punch-bowl, and whose dangling sabre, in its revolutions in the waltz, left as many impressions upon friends as it ever did upon foes; yet it had the happy effect of giving the gentleman and his partner full possession of the field, whenever he could prevail upon some enterprising spinster to join him in cutting a swath through the crowd.”
Prospect Hall now houses a private school.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-3-061 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Septima M. Collis, A Woman’s War Record 1861 – 1865 (New York: Putnam’s Sons, 1889), 9-10.
Civil War Trails Historical Marker: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2775
Ramsey House
119 Record Street Frederick, MD 21701In October 1862, Abraham Lincoln stopped at this house to visit a Union general recovering from a wound received at the Battle of Antietam.
In October 1862, after the Battle of Antietam the previous month, President Abraham Lincoln made a surprise visit to the site of the battle and to Union General George McClellan, whose army was camped in the vicinity. On his return to Washington, Lincoln traveled to Frederick to take a train back to the capital. He first stopped at the home of Mrs. Ellen Tyler Ramsey, where Union General George Hartsuff was recuperating from a wound he had received at Antietam. President Lincoln was then driven to the train station where he gave a brief impromptu speech before boarding the train. The house is now a private residence.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995): 15
“The President’s Visit to McClellan’s Army,” Harper’s Weekly, October 25, 1862, 684, 686.
“President Lincoln Stopped Off Here On Way Back From Antietam Battlefield,” Frederick News, September 1, 1961, 19.
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2818
Roger Brooke Taney House
121 South Bentz Street Frederick, MD 21701 Contact: Historical Society of Frederick County http://www.hsfcinfo.org/taney/index.htm 301-663-1188This house was owned by Roger Brooke Taney, future Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, from 1815 to 1823.
Roger Brooke Taney began his career as a lawyer in Frederick, MD, and practiced law there between 1801 and 1823. He owned this house from 1815 to 1823. Taney later became Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and was the chief author of the infamous Dred Scott case in 1857, in which Taney “affirmed” that African Americans “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” The Dred Scott case was one of the catalysts of the Civil War. Taney and Abraham Lincoln also clashed in 1861 over the arrest of John Merryman in Baltimore by military authorities. Taney claimed the military had no right to hold Merryman without a judicial inquiry, but Lincoln claimed the Constitution gave the President extra-legal authority in times of war. The Roger Brooke Taney House is now operated by the Historical Society of Frederick County as a museum featuring items of interest from the lives of both Taney and his brother-in-law Francis Scott Key. Taney is buried in Frederick, in St. John’s Catholic Church Cemetery.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0338
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-1008 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995), 7
Susan Cooke Soderberg, A Guide to Civil War Sites in Maryland – Blue and Gray in a Border State (Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Books, 1998), 90.
St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery
116 East 2nd Street Frederick, MD 21701 (301) 662-8288The church building was used as a hospital during the war, and the cemetery holds the remains of Roger Brooke Taney and several Civil War soldiers.
St. John’s Catholic Church, dating to 1837, was used as a hospital during the Civil War. The church was used specifically for the care of Confederate wounded, and an unsubstantiated story attributes that to the church’s high windows hindering any escape attempts.
St. John’s Cemetery is one of the rare examples in which the graves of Confederate soldiers, Union white soldiers, and Union African American soldiers co-exist. [There is one grave of an African American soldier, George Washington, who served with the 23rd U.S. Colored Infantry. Before the war, he worked at the nearby Jesuit Novitiate.] Also buried in the cemetery is Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.stjohn-frederick.org/aboutus.asp
http://www.stjohn-frederick.org/stjohncemetery.asp
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0335
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0744 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
18313 Lappans Road Boonsboro, MD 21713 www.stmarkslappans.org (301) 582-0417The church was used as a hospital after the Battle of Antietam.
St. Mark’s Church was constructed and consecrated in July of 1849. During the Civil War, it was a hospital for wounded men, some of whom were later transferred to local farms to recover. The church held no services from mid-September through November 21st, 1862, reportedly because of battle damage.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.stmarks-lappans.ang-md.org/
National Register of Historic Places summary: http://mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?HDID=1219&COUNTY=Washington&FROM=NRCountyList.aspx?COUNTY=Washington
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0024 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
209W. Main Street(MD 34) SharpsburgMD21782 (301)432-7089 http://www.stpaulssharpsburg.org/index.htmlSt. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Sharpsburg was badly damaged during the Battle of Antietam, and was used as a hospital by both the Confederate and Union armies.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Sharpsburg was organized in 1818. The cornerstone of the two-story stone, stuccoed, building was laid onMay 31, 1819. During the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam the church was badly damaged and was subsequently abandoned as a place of worship. On the day of the battle and the day following, the Confederates used the church as a hospital. Most of the furnishings were removed to make room for beds. Some of those who died were buried in the church’s cemetery, although their remains were later removed to the Washington Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland. After the Confederates retreated, the Union army used the church as a hospital as well.
Following the war, the church raised funds to rebuild. The second cornerstone was laid onOctober 30, 1871, and using the original stone and bell, the new church was completed in 1874. Improvements to the structure were made in 1965 and 2000.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.stpaulssharpsburg.org/History.htm
Vernell Doyle and Tim Doyle, Sharpsburg, Images ofAmerica Series, 2009.
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0517 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Tolson’s Chapel
111 East High Street Sharpsburg, MD 21782 http://www.tolsonschapel.org E-mail: tolsonschapel@gmail.comTolson’s Chapel was an African American church and Freedmen’s Bureau school in the years after the Civil War.
In September of 1862, residents of Sharpsburg witnessed the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, the Battle of Antietam. The Union Army could claim only a partial victory that day, but it was enough to give President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity he had awaited to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. For many Americans thereafter, especially for the almost four million held in bondage, the war was about freedom.
After the war, and practically on the battlefield that spurred Lincoln’s call for emancipation, the small African American community of Sharpsburg began work on a church. Many in this community had been enslaved until 1864, when a new Maryland state constitution abolished slavery. Two years later, in October 1866, the cornerstone of Tolson’s Chapel was laid. This tiny church on a back street in Sharpsburg became the spiritual and educational center of a vibrant community of African American families, and a symbol of their struggles and triumphs.
Tolson’s Chapel was built on land donated by Samuel Craig and his wife, both of whom had been free African Americans before the war. The church was built of logs, one story in height, and had an adjoining cemetery. The structure was dedicated in October 1867 as a Methodist church, and named for John Tolson, the first minister.
By 1868, Tolson’s Chapel also served as a schoolhouse for local African American children. Responding to the lack of educational facilities for African American children after the war, the federal Freedmen’s Bureau helped local communities throughout the South and in the former border states hire teachers and build schools. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped start at least nineteen schools in Washington and Frederick Counties between 1866 and 1870. In April of 1868, teacher Ezra Johnson opened the “American Union” school in Tolson’s Chapel with eighteen children. In addition to the day school for children, Johnson also began a night school for adults, a Sabbath school, and a temperance organization.
The “American Union” school continued until 1870, when Congress began dismantling the Freedmen’s Bureau. By 1871, the state of Maryland began oversight of African American education, and Tolson’s Chapel continued to serve double duty as a school until 1899, when Sharpsburg’s first African American schoolhouse was built nearby at the end of High Street. The last member of Tolson’s Chapel passed away in the 1990s, and the building and cemetery are now under the care of Friends of Tolson’s Chapel. The chapel is open by appointment.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Friends of Tolson’s Chapel website: www.tolsonschapel.org
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1676
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0702 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Washington Monument
6620 Zittlestown Road Middletown, MD 21769 (301)791-4767 http://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/western/washington.asp
Washington Monument was used as a Union signal station before and during the Battle of Antietam, and during the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg.
Although other monuments to the memory of George Washington were begun at an earlier date, this monument was the first to be completed. The monument was begun on July 4, 1827 by the citizens of Boonsboro, Maryland and the surrounding region. When it was completed in September, the monument stood thirty feet high on a fifty-four foot circular base.
By the time of the Civil War, however, vandals and mischievous boys had tossed eight to ten feet of stone from the monument down the mountainside. OnSeptember 15, 1862, following the Army of thePotomac’s seizure of the passes throughSouthMountain, aUnionsignal station was established onWashingtonMonument. Signal officers there detected the Confederate army passing along the road fromSharpsburgto Shepherdstown and the beginnings of a thin battle line beyond Antietam Creek. During the September 17BattleofAntietam, the signal officer atWashingtonMonumentwas ordered to watch for enemy movements fromPleasantValleyor thePotomac. OnJuly 8, 1863, during the Gettysburg Campaign, a Union signal station was again established atopWashingtonMonumentand reported Confederate movements during the Battle of Boonsboro, which took place that day.
In 1882, through the efforts of theSouthMountainencampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Madeleine Dahlgren, who lived at the Mountain House at Turner’s Gap, and who was the widow of Civil War naval officer John A. Dahlgren, a fund was established to rebuild the monument. Repairs were made and for the first time a carriage road was constructed to the monument. Within twenty years, however, a fissure had opened in the monument and it soon fell into ruins. In 1922 the monument and one acre of surrounding land were purchased by the Washington County Historical Society. From 1934 to 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era agency created to alleviate national unemployment, rebuilt the monument. The property was donated to the state ofMarylandin 1934 and is presently a state park.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/western/washington.asp
J. Willard Brown, The Signal Corps, U.S.A., in the War of the Rebellion, 1896.
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0501 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1161
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1908
Winchester Hall
12-14 East Church Street Frederick, MD 21701Following the battles of Antietam and South Mountain, these buildings became part of Frederick’s General Hospital No. 4.
The pair of buildings now known as Winchester Hall was originally founded by Hiram Winchester as a girls’ school, the Frederick Female Seminary. The cornerstone of the east wing was laid in 1843, with the west wing following in 1850. It attracted students not just from Maryland, but from neighboring states as well. During the Civil War, the school was taken over by the Union Army on September 17, 1862 to house soldiers wounded in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, becoming part of Frederick’s General Hospital No. 4. At first, Winchester attempted to continue the school semester, keeping the soldiers in the west wing and the girls’ classes in the east wing, but the school was soon forced to close under the strain. Winchester’s attempts to regain control of the school from the army were unsuccessful, as the kitchens were being used to feed all of General Hospital No. 4. The soldiers finally departed in January 1863, but because many of the girls’ families were afraid to send them back due to the war, the school did not reopen until 1865. Even after its post-war reopening, many Southern students did not return, and the school fell into financial troubles. The seminary later became Hood College, leaving Winchester Hall in 1915; the buildings now house Frederick County Government offices.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://frederick.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=8 (Winchester Hall Documentary)
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (enter FHD-0614 in “Site No.” in “Search by Property” tab)
Zion Lutheran Church
107 West Main Street Middletown, Maryland 21769The Zion Lutheran Church was used as a hospital following the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.
In April of 1860, Lutherans in Middletown celebrated their first service in a new church building. Two and a half years later, following the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, the building was turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers. Pews were removed and replaced by cots, and church services were moved to a nearby hall. In January 1863 the building was returned to the Lutherans, along with $2,395 to pay for damages. The Lutherans returned to the church for worship services in August 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest (Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995):22
http://www.zionmiddletown.org/about/history.htm
